Social media marketing (SMM) is a sub-set of e-marketing and it involves the use of social media sites for the purpose of marketing a product/service. As many businesses have discovered, SMM is on the rise and it has many unlimited benefits, some of which include helping a company to: innovate, build closer relationships with customers/stakeholders, reduce marketing costs, increase brand reach and simplify market research.

1. SOCIALMEDIAMARKETING
(PART1)
THE 8 SINS OF
O F E N T S E ( R A P A K G A D I ) O L U N L O Y O

2. WHATIS
SOCIALMEDIA
MARKETING?
Social media marketing (SMM) is a sub-set of e-marketing
and it involves the use of social media sites for the purpose
of marketing a product/service. As many businesses have
discovered, SMM is on the rise and it has many unlimited
benefits, some of which include helping a company to:
innovate, build closer relationships with
customers/stakeholders, reduce marketing costs, increase
brand reach and simplify market research.

3. AWESOME
RIGHT?
WAIT,THERE'SA
BUT
Despite its benefits, many businesses are failing dismally at
SMM, leading them to assume that SMM is not worth
investing in… there are many reasons why businesses fail at
SMM, in this two part post I will highlight 8 of those reasons.
Avoid these 4 social media marketing sins that most
businesses are guilty of…and you will have a fighting chance
of thriving in your SMM.

4. SIN#1-FAILINGTO
CONDUCTMARKET
RESEARCH
Research is the genesis of every stable foundation. The
main aim of conducting research is to identify potential
solutions to problems. When it comes to marketing, be it
direct or digital, market research is essential. Market
research can help minimise/eliminate some of the risks
associated with social media marketing.

5. MARKET
RESEARCHMarket Research helps organisations
understand their online customers’ needs and
expectations. Research shows that online
customers usually have higher expectations
than offline customers.

6. DOYOUR
RESEARCH
With that said, it is imperative to ensure that you conduct
market research and a thorough social media audit, which
should include social media monitoring/ social listening.
Social listening involves identifying and evaluating what
people are saying about your business, competitors and
industry on social media.
A social media audit involves conducting a SWOT analysis
across all your social media platforms (if your business is
already on social media) – it ranges from your choice of
platform, strategies, content, type/quality of followers, to
competitors’ strategies/activities.

7. DOYOUR
RESEARCH
Research each platform and its rules of engagement e.g.
Do’s and Don’ts, Terms of Use, trends, hashtags/keywords,
strengths, weaknesses, and type of audience.
Hashtag research is imperative for platforms such as Twitter,
Instagram and Facebook. Never make the mistake of using
hashtags without first understanding their background, and
meanings (connotative, denotative, implicit and explicit).

8. THE6P'S
OFSOCIAL MEDIA
Your research should give you insights into
(I) Platforms - which platforms are best suited or your
business and its needs.
(II) Place - where your customers spend most of their time on
social media.
(III) People - who your ideal online customer is, their likes,
dislikes as well as their behavioural trends.
(IV) Partnerships – when it comes to e-marketing,
collaborations are important for sustainability.

9. THE6P'S
OFSOCIAL MEDIA
(V) Promotion – if you want social media to work for you,
allocate a budget to it. Research should be able to guide you
about how much PPC, PPM ads cost across different
platforms, and also how you should structure your marketing
campaigns.
(VI) Product/Perceptions – it is important that you ensure that
your research is well positioned to help you understand
customers’ perceptions about your
brand/organisation/products/services. Customers enjoy
sharing experiences on social media so listen very well.
Feedback, whether good or bad, is ALWAYS good.

10. SIN#2-FAILINGTOSET
SMARTOBJECTIVES
Findings from your market research should guide
you in setting comprehensive social media
marketing objectives. These objectives should be
derived from your overall business and marketing
objectives. Social media does not work in isolation.

11. YOURSOCIALMEDIA
MARKETING
OBJECTIVESSHOULD
BEIN-LINEWITH
YOUROVERALL
MARKETING
OBJECTIVES.

12. SMART
OBJECTIVES
Many businesses, both big and small, make the mistake of not
setting objectives for social media marketing. Although, most
of us know the importance of setting SMART (specific,
measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) marketing
objectives, most businesses still end up forgetting that social
media marketing needs its own set of objectives. These
objectives which should be in-line with the overall marketing
objectives since social media marketing does not function in
a vacuum.

13. SMART
OBJECTIVES
It is important to identify the reasons why your business has
chosen to go social. You need to analyse your needs and
expectations before you even tackle social media.
Start by asking yourself the following questions:
What benefits are you expecting?
Why do you want to be on social media?

14. 5S'SOF
E-MARKETING
Here is a general overview of the five main objectives (also
known as the 5 S’s of e-marketing) for using social media for
business:
To sell – increase sales/leads
To save costs – by reducing marketing costs
To serve customers – by adding value and giving customers
extra benefits
To sizzle – by increasing brand awareness online
To speak to customers – get closer to customers

15. SIN#3-VIOLATING
TERMSOFUSE
All social media platforms have different terms of use
however most of the themes overlap, take Facebook and
LinkedIn for instance. Both these platforms have different
accounts for individuals and organisations. Individuals are
allowed a personal account otherwise known as a profile,
meanwhile organisations are allowed a business/company
page. Despite this clear distinctions, there are still many
businesses that violate Facebook and LinkedIn Terms of Use
by creating profiles for their businesses.

16. RESPECTTHE
TERMSOFUSE
In its ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ (section 8.2. of its User Agreement)
LinkedIn clearly outlines that by creating a LinkedIn profile
“you agree that you will not create a member profile for
anyone other than yourself (a real person)”.
In the same breath, Facebook emphasises that ‘Facebook
Personal profiles are for non-commercial use and represent
individual people.’

17. PLAYBY
THERULES
As tempting as it may seem, it is best to stay clear of Black
Hat practices such as creating a Facebook/ LinkedIn
personal profile your business. If you really have to, rather use
your personal profile for business instead.
Violating Terms of Use and rules of engagement on social
media has the potential to harm your brand and reputation.

18. SIN#4-NOTHAVINGA
PLAN
Ever heard the phrase “if you fail to plan, you plan to
fail”? Well it also applies to social media marketing.
Approaching social media without a plan is very risky.
Despite this knowledge, most businesses still choose to
jump straight into action without having a solid plan of
action.
Your plan needs to include social media objectives,
strategy and campaigns. Other crucial elements to
include are:

19. PLAN,PLAN,
PLAN!
Customer service – like it or not, customers will use your social
media platforms to compliment, complain or query (be it
directly via tagging or mentioning your handle directly or
indirectly via vaguely mentioning you casually). It therefore
becomes critical for your business to have a well-oiled query
resolution system that is known and understood by all
relevant parties in your business.
Crisis management – having a plan doesn't necessarily mean
that you shouldn't prepare yourself for the worst case
scenario. Your plan should include a comprehensive social
media risk analysis – because, prevention is better than cure.

20. THANKSFORREADING!LOOKOUTFORPART2,WHEREIWILLBE
DISCUSSINGTHEOTHER4SOCIALMEDIASINSTOAVOID.
PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS
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